Tuesday, 1 July 2008

Vancouver in June

You always take a risk with the weather, visiting Vancouver in June, but I didn't really expect only one (1) sunny day out of fourteen. Still, it didn't actually rain much, even though the skies were cloudy and the temperature so low that I never got to wear the shorts I had optimistically packed. And besides, the highlights were the times we spent with family and friends.

Visiting my brother-in-law at work gave me an opportunity to photograph the city from a bird's eye point of view, including:

The beautiful terracotta icing on the Marine building -

and its frieze of seahorses -

Downtown landscaping from above -

And the preparations for a green roof on a new waterfront project -

The last day of my visit was the one sunny day,and also, by good fortune, the weekend of the Vancouver Open Garden Scheme, so my good friend Sally and I went to have a look.

Water features, small and large, were popular elements:

A mirror on the far side of one pond gave me the opportunity to snap Sally and me together.

I particularly liked the hot tropical effects in this small garden:

And the thoughtful groupings of colour and form on this much grander estate:

About Me

I'm a writer, a gardener and a traveller, living in a 100-year-old house in Vancouver, Canada. I have 2 blogs:
"Grand Folly" records the restoration of the house and the development of my garden.
My most recent book, "A Year at Killara Farm", (Harbour Publishing Ltd) is a memoir of my previous garden, with recipes from my kitchen and watercolour illustrations by my husband, Michael Kluckner.
" 2 BusTickets" is my travel blog. When Michael and I travel we take one carry-on bag each, and get around by bus, train, or sometimes rental car. We stay in small hotels or apartments that reflect the character of the country we're visiting.
We also travel within Canada, usually on short road trips from Vancouver and occasionally in other parts of this vast country.